Shawn Gary was named Conference Coach of the Year
LAKE WALES, Fla. – Eighteen softball players were honored on Thursday (April 30) afternoon as The Sun Conference announced the 2009 Softball All-Conference Team at the opening ceremony of The Sun Conference Softball Tournament.
The top honorees were Warner’s head coach Shawn Gary who was named Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year, Warner’s Hope Franklin who was tabbed as Player of the Year and St. Thomas’ Kelly Deibler garnered her second Pitcher of the Year award.
Gary picked up his second consecutive Coach of the Year Award after leading the Royals to back-to-back conference titles with a program history best overall record of 33-4 and an impressive 14-1 conference record.
Franklin, a junior outfielder from Frostproof, Fla. batted .350 for the season, led the offense with six homeruns and tied to lead the team in doubles (8) and RBI’s (30). She was equally impressive in the field as she sported a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage this season. Franklin, who earned conference Player of the Week honors twice this season, also led the team in runs (33) and total bases (66).
Deibler, a senior from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. was named conference Pitcher of the Year after leading the Bobcats and the conference in average strikeouts per 7 innings, averaging 11.6 for the season with 99 strikeouts and a 9-1 record. She maintained a 1.55 ERA while holding opposing batters to a paltry .210 average. Deibler repeats as the conference Pitcher of the Year as she took home the honor as a freshman in 2006.
All-Conference Team
C Danielle Fennimore (WU)
C Dominica Jordan (SCAD)
C Joy Fuller (WIU)
IF Lisa Santos (NU)
IF Courtney Mienkina (SCAD)
IF Kasey Keown (SCAD)
IF Staci Fernandez (WU)
IF Brooke Gary (WU)
IF Melissa King (STU)
OF Hope Franklin (WU)
OF Whitney Carroll (WU)
OF Carleigh Shannon (SCAD)
OF Jaime Voelkel (SCAD)
P Kelly Deibler (STU)
P Rebecca Powell (WU)
P Kristen LeFan (WIU)
P Kristen Stewart (WIU)
UT Gina Guffanti (STU)